Tag: Grace

His Grace, My Weakness

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Isaiah 55:11 “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it will not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

Have you ever been afraid? Of course, you have. Everyone has been afraid of something. But did you get past your fear or did you allow it to cripple you, stop you in your tracks, steal your rest and destroy your peace? Fear can do that to you. It did it to me this year. I was afraid for my son. Afraid for his mental health, afraid for his future, afraid for his life, afraid for his happiness. My son was a senior in high school and suffering from depression. I had no idea how to help him. I was scared that one little thing would push him over the edge, and he would shut down for good. So, what did I do? I dropped to my knees, and I prayed. I asked God to give me the wisdom to help him since I was completely clueless. I asked God to intervene. I asked God to hold him in His arms and comfort my son like no other earthly father could. Then I got up and called the doctor, call a licensed counselor, called his school, talked to my friends, asked for prayers from my family, and anything else I could think of. I was NOT going to lose my son. The enemy could not have him. So, I fought for my son with every strength of my being.

During this time, I stopped writing my devotionals. I stopped getting in the word every day. I was all consumed with helping my son. I stepped away from my calling. Then when my son started showing improvement and started to smile again, I thought about writing again but I was scared. I was scared that I wouldn’t have anything to write about. I was scared that I was tapped out because I had not been in the word like I use to be. But everywhere I turned I kept receiving confirmation from God that He wanted me to start writing again. I would read a book and there would be phrases about using your voice, I would listen to a message on Sunday and there would be phrases about using your voice, I would go to a Women’s conference, and it would be about, yep you guessed it, using your voice. But I was scared that I wouldn’t know what to write. Then God reminded me that it really isn’t ME that is writing it. It is God that is giving me the inspiration, the ideas, and the words to say. So today I sat down with my Bible and my notepad and started writing. I thought I was going to write about something completely different than my son and my fears, the mistakes I made by stepping away from the word, and the confirmation I received to start writing again, but this is what ended up on the page. So, I guess there is someone out there that needs to hear this today.

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

I will allow God to share my weaknesses, my fears, and my shortcomings with whomever reads this so that His word that goes out from my mouth will not return to Him empty.

Lord, today I put my trust in you. I rebuke the enemy and submit myself to God. Amen

Love One Another

Mark 12:31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.

Way back before Jesus was born, God helped the Israelites (also called the Jews) escape Egypt where they were slaves.  God led them to a special place he called the Promised Land. When they finally arrived, God told them not to marry or mingle with the people in that land because they did not believe in the one true God.  Now fast forward to Jesus’s time.  Jesus preached about love, grace and forgiveness.  He said the most important commandment was to love God and in Mark 12:31 it says, “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”  Many Jews did not believe that Jesus was God’s son and did not want to love one another.  They only wanted to love other Jews. 

Since many Jewish people rejected Jesus and didn’t want to believe that he was God’s son, Jesus’s friends began to tell other races about Jesus so that everyone could have an opportunity to believe and be saved.  They were very successful and lots of people believed and were saved!  So, one day, Peter, one of Jesus’s friends, was asked to go to Cornelius’s house.  Cornelius was the captain of the Italian Guard and not a Jew.

When Peter got to Cornelius’s house, the Bible says in Acts 10:27-29 (MSG) “Talking things over, they went on into the house, where Cornelius introduced Peter to everyone who had come. Peter addressed them, “You know, I’m sure that this is highly irregular. Jews just don’t do this – visit and relax with people of another race. But God has just shown me that no race is better than any other. So, the minute I was sent for, I came, no questions asked. But now I’d like to know why you sent for me.”

So, there you have it.  No race is better than any other.  That is what God says in the Bible.  Another race may look strange to you, but you look strange to them too.  You may listen to different music, have different ways of talking to friends or wear different clothes.  But different isn’t bad, it is just different.  Take a minute to get to know people for who they are not what they look like and you will be pleasantly surprised about how much you actually have in common.

Lord, thank you for making so many amazing and wonderful people.  Help me to remember that you want me to love my neighbor as much as I love myself. Amen